Appeal No. 97-2243
Application 08/222,584
a reinforcing woven mesh fabric as is required by independent
claims 1 and 7. Although Trower’s intermediate layer 14 and
outer wall 12 respectively constitute a plastic material and a
reinforcing woven mesh material, the outer wall 12 is not
laminated to the intermediate layer 14.
Jaschek pertains to coated fabrics featuring enhanced
adhesion between the fabric and the coating mix. These fabrics
have a high degree of flexibility (see column 1, lines 57 through
60) and are said to “find a great many diverse applications in
industry as well as everyday life; e.g. in air-supported
structures, stadium roofing/cover, packaging materials,
tarpaulins, rubber/pneumatic rafts, roof truss insulations, etc.”
(column 1, lines 14 through 17). Depending on the particular
use, the flexibility or rigidity of the fabric can be adjusted by
judicious selection of the coating mix constituents (see column
3, lines 27 through 30).
According to the examiner, it would have been obvious to one
of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings of Jaschek
to laminate Trower’s intermediate layer 14 and outer wall 12 to
one another, thereby arriving at a swimming pool meeting the
above noted limitations in claims 1 and 7 (see pages 3 and 4 in
the answer).
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Last modified: November 3, 2007